WASHINGTON ā Alex Ovechkin scored the 884th goal of his NHL career late in the Washington Capitals' 3-1 loss to the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, moving 10 away from tying Wayne Gretzkyās record.
Ovechkin beat fellow Russian Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning with four minutes left in the third period after getting stopped twice by him earlier.
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āHeās the best goal-scorer for a reason,ā Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. āYou give him one little extra space there, he puts it home.ā
Ovechkinās 31st goal of the season is his 12th in 22 games against Vasilevskiy. He's now on pace to break the record in early April.
āHeās obviously feeling it right now with the way heās been scoring,ā Tampa Bay captain Victor Hedman said. "Vasy did some unreal saves, but heās going to get his chances. Heās arguably one of the best goal-scorers of all time, so he gets those chances in the slot, itās tough to save those.ā
Despite the 39-year-old scoring, the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals lost a third consecutive game for the first time this season.
āFinishing and getting on the board was huge, but I still think itās going to get better," coach Spencer Carbery said. "O is finishing at a real high rate coming out of the break. I think his play, chemistry and the whole product of our group ā whether thatās his line or the power play ā will continue to improve. Iām hopeful of that.ā
With Ovechkin closing in on passing Gretzky but still double digits away, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said before the game, "If he breaks the record tonight, then we did something wrong.ā
Ovechkin did not quite do that, but he still took another step closer to making hockey history.
āThatās why heās got 800-plus of them,ā Cooper said afterward. āHe knows what to do when heās in that spot.ā
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl